We are entering an era where AI can be used to detect things like 'secret smoking in a hotel' and 'small scratches on a rental car.'
As AI advances, it is beginning to be used in industries that have traditionally been run by humans, such as hotels and car sharing services. News media CNBC reported on these cases.
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Hertz, a car rental and car sharing company, is using an AI-powered scanning system it calls 'vehicle MRI' to monitor its vehicles, detecting small scratches, tire wear, and other hard-to-detect damage.
Vehicle MRI works by having the vehicle pass through a tunnel equipped with cameras and sensors, revealing any differences between the vehicle before and after rental, and if there is any excessive damage, the user is charged for repairs. Everything from scanning to issuing an invoice is done automatically, so it is expected to reduce the burden on humans.
Hertz plans to deploy its vehicle MRI systems at several airports by the end of 2025. Hertz emphasized the system's features, saying, 'Manual inspections lack consistency, objectivity, and transparency, and can result in charges being made for damage caused by someone else. Digital vehicle inspections, on the other hand, provide peace of mind that this will not happen.' The system has already inspected approximately 500,000 vehicles, and less than 3% of those have been found to have damage, meaning that the deployment of the scanners has reduced the number of vehicle damages.
While vehicle MRI may seem like a convenient system, some have pointed out that it will 'create distrust among customers.'
Shannon McKeown of Wake Forest University points out, 'Something that a human might miss as attrition may be claimed by an algorithm. I call this trend of using AI to identify, classify, and monetize previously overlooked losses an 'algorithmic audit.'' She adds that other companies are also implementing similar improvements to streamline their operations.
Hotels are adopting similar systems to rental cars. According to Jordan Hollander, a hotel consultant, some hotels are using AI-powered sensors to monitor air quality and identify guests who are secretly smoking in their rooms.
'Such systems are used as assistants to humans, and the final decision is left to humans. They are not automated to the point of billing like car rentals, but it is clear that we are moving in that direction. Such systems have the potential to malfunction,' Hollander said. 'If hotels do not clarify how and why they detected smoking when billing, the relationship between the hotel and the customer will be completely damaged.'
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